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Thread: How old is Grandpa???

  1. #1
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    How old is Grandpa???

    Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It will blow you away.

    One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current events.

    The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

    The Grandfather replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born before:

     television
     penicillin
     polio shots
     frozen foods
     Xerox
     contact lenses
     Frisbees and
     the pill

    There were no:

     credit cards
     laser beams or
     ball-point pens

    Man had not invented:

     pantyhose
     air conditioners
     dishwashers
     clothes dryers
     and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and
     man hadn't yet walked on the moon

    Your Grandmother and I got married first, . . . And then lived together.

    Every family had a father and a mother.

    Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, "Sir".

    And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir."

    We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.

    Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.

    We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.

    Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.

    We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.

    Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.

    Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started.

    Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.

    We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.

    We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios.

    And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.

    If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan ' on it, it was junk

    The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.

    Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.

    We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.

    Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.

    And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.

    You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, . . . But who could afford one?
    Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.

    In my day:

     "grass" was mowed,
     "coke" was a cold drink,
     "pot" was something your mother cooked in and
     "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.
     "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office,
     " chip" meant a piece of wood,
     "hardware" was found in a hardware store and
     "software" wasn't even a word.

    And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap... And how old do you think I am?

    I bet you have this old man in mind...you are in for a shock!

    Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time.


    Are you ready ?????


    This man would be only 59 years old!

  2. #2
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    25th January 2006 - 15:33
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    I bet this is american. And americans are the BEST at ignoring the real facts of social history and donning their rose tinted glasses.

    This "down homey" type stuff is such crap, it's not funny. It's convenient to rhapsodise about how good the good old days were, because you are safely here and now and have no risk of actually being back there.

    Plenty of things were "better" then, and plenty of things were a bloody sight worse . . .
    Illuc ivi, illud feci.

    Buggrim, Buggrit.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by janno View Post
    I bet this is american. And americans are the BEST at ignoring the real facts of social history and donning their rose tinted glasses.

    This "down homey" type stuff is such crap, it's not funny. It's convenient to rhapsodise about how good the good old days were, because you are safely here and now and have no risk of actually being back there.

    Plenty of things were "better" then, and plenty of things were a bloody sight worse . . .

    Yes, it's American... and overall, I think that things WERE better then.
    The points are certainly valid. Maybe because I was a kid in the 60's I'm biased... I remember being allowed to stay up and watch Neil Armstrong walk on the moon

  4. #4
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    I've often thought about the whole nostalgia thing, and I reckon it boils down to people wanting to get back to when they were a) a kid with whose only job was to have fun, or b) a young adult whose got their whole life in front of them, bugger all responsibilities and oodles of time to muck around and make mistakes.

    Because each generation seems to have exactly the same complaint ie, that it was much better 20 - 40 years ago. Even a coupla hundred years ago they were complaining that it was better back in the day . . .
    Illuc ivi, illud feci.

    Buggrim, Buggrit.

  5. #5
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    I remember the good old days. They were shit.
    Quote Originally Posted by skidmark
    This world has lost it's drive, everybody just wants to fit in the be the norm as it were.
    Quote Originally Posted by Phil Vincent
    The manufacturers go to a lot of trouble to find out what the average rider prefers, because the maker who guesses closest to the average preference gets the largest sales. But the average rider is mainly interested in silly (as opposed to useful) “goodies” to try to kid the public that he is riding a racer

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by janno View Post
    I bet this is american. And americans are the BEST at ignoring the real facts of social history and donning their rose tinted glasses.

    This "down homey" type stuff is such crap, it's not funny. It's convenient to rhapsodise about how good the good old days were, because you are safely here and now and have no risk of actually being back there.

    Plenty of things were "better" then, and plenty of things were a bloody sight worse . . .
    Hey janno, I didn't read any reference to it being "the good old days"!

    I was born another 10 yrs earlier than the subject and I can vouch for all that but I would not claim them as the good old days!

    The good old days are here right now!

    I take it that they were just showing how quickly things have advanced over the last 50/60 yrs.

    The only real thing lost that I think has been sacrificed for all the other things is "personal freedom" etc.

    It's like Confucius said, "open the windows and you will always let in a few flies"!

    The only thing you get for nothing, is nothing, so every time time you advance you generally lose something.

    The good old days are now, well that's what I believe anyway.

    I must admit, I do miss the freedoms we had back when I was a kid "but"!!!!???

    I really like the comforts I have now, better!!! Cheers John.

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    Sounds about right. He's talking about a lot of stuff that he'd be remembering from his infancy though!

    I think a lot of you guys were missing the point. It's not about the good old days but simply the astounding pace at which technology has developed the last 60 years.

    And if that is astounding, sit down for a second and keep that development in mind and have a good look at what is happening right now. Trust me, it's fucking scary on so many levels. Don't worry about it though, just enjoy.
    It is preferential to refrain from the utilisation of grandiose verbiage in the circumstance that your intellectualisation can be expressed using comparatively simplistic lexicological entities. (...such as the word fuck.)

    Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. - Joseph Rotblat

  8. #8
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    I can even remember using punch cards to do programming.... and paper tapes...

    The old CT90's on the farm (worked great until we decided that nailing a painters plank to a fence post was better than opening the gate - in hindsight a bad idea)...

  9. #9
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    As penicillan was invented in 1928, and television was commercially available in 1930, I would say that grandpa was at least 79 years old rather than only 59.

    But don't let facts get in the way of an otherwise good yarn.
    Time to ride

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    " Grandad got badlly burned the other day"

    " Oh shit, How Badly Burned?"

    "Well,...they don't fuck around at the crematorium"

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    Grandad was so poor, the only time he smelled hot food, was when a rich person farted.

    Grandad is so old, he farts dust.
    Ok, I'll stop now.......

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by devnull View Post

    Every family had a father and a mother.




    Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.

    Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.



    And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.





    And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby.

    It's the above which screams "rose tinted specs" to me! What a load of pie in the sky crap!! I've read a lot of first hand accounts of living in the times this homily is referring to, and there were still suicides, young girls who were raped were ostracised, incest "didn't happen" because it was ignored, many people didn't divorce but were utterly and totally miserable together or had affairs, and the mob mentality ruled supreme. IE if you were different, you were a threat, and wiley politicians used this well to their advantage. McArtheyism, anyone?

    My point is, it's very easy to say some past era was better when you don't have to live in it.

    However, if I could go back in time, I'd go back to the early eighties and buy up computer stock like there was no tomorrow . . .

    And baches at Mokau. Have you seen the prices they go for now?
    Illuc ivi, illud feci.

    Buggrim, Buggrit.

  13. #13
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    The "good old days" used to be known as "These trying times!"

    I remember using horse and sled and pitchforks on the farm when Dad milked the cows by hand and they all had names. Party-line hand generator phones and getting tired arms making butter in the churn.

    When I had my tonsils out at age 6, it was done in the local Dr's surgery using the dreaded Ether mask for anaesthetic! The dental drill was electric, but slow and belt driven! No local anaesthetic for us either!

    Yeah, much was better, much was worse! It was a more innocent time and there was a general respect for authority that is markedly lacking today.

    I think the worst thing about the progress of time is this, the lack of respect - self-respect and respect for others. It makes for more violence and a less tolerant society. People are actually less educated today as well in the things that matter.

    People are people and of any era the basic characteristics of human beings is the same.
    You don't get to be an old dog without learning a few tricks.
    Shorai Powersports batteries are very trick!

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    Didn't John Logie Baird invent television in 1954?
    Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow aren’t just the 4 cycles of an engine

  15. #15
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    So if I had a kid at 14 and he or she had a kid at 14 - I could be a Grandad before 30. By the time I was 35 the kid could ask me how old I am. And I could reply

    "Not fucking old enough to be a grandfather!!"
    They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old.
    Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.
    At the going down of the sun and in the evening,
    we will remember them

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